All you Batman fanboys out there, better get your tissues, so you don’t drool on your keyboards, because this Batpod replica is a treat.
We’ve seen cool Tumbler replicas before, but this is the first functional Batpod I’ve seen, so far. And the best thing about this thing is that it’s for sale. Sure, we can’t all just whip out $100,000 to buy it, but at least we can dream.
The 1:1 replica Batpod took several months to complete, including 2 months of research and over 1,000 hours of intense labor. Its frame and tubing are made of hardened steel, the covers and arm guards are high tensile strength fiberglass. The engine is a whopping 650cc, which features nitrous injection boost and water cooling.
In case you’re wondering this custom made Batpod can be ridden, and although it’s not street legal, it has been tested in a controlled environment. According to the seller, it can be made street legal, at the buyer’s request. Still I wouldn’t recommend taking this thing for a ride on the highway, if you value your life.
The auction for the Batpod replica is ongoing on eBay, so you still have a chance of snatching it, for $100,000.
Nick Lowe, of Johnsonville, New Zealand, pulls on bike shorts and a t-shirt when he climbs on to pedal away through the city. But as soon as he hits the open road, a "change of clothes" is on the agenda. The t-shirt graces Lowe's handlebars. The bike shorts he carefully arranges on the saddle so that the chamois seat pad still performs as point of contact. "The majority of the public has no issues with it," Lowe told TV New Zealand.
But one person did take offense. And took Lowe to court. Lowe explains the philosophy behind his fight in a YouTube video. And we look at the verdict: does it mean a free-for-all for nudists in New Zealand?
Lowe first suspected trouble when a car driven by a woman on her cell phone passed him, slowly. She pulled over to let Lowe pass by. Then drove past him again, slowly. In all, the woman took advantage of the "offensive" scene fully five times. Curious about the strange behavior, Lowe assessed his new admirer. The look on her face convinced the fit 40-year old cyclist that she was not enjoying the view. Shortly thereafter, Lowe was pulled over by the police.
Lowe represented himself at the trial. He walked away with a NZ$200 (US$140) fine, and court costs, on his tab. The Johnsonviller decided to fight. On appeal, he took his lawyer. And walked away with a singular precedent.
Justice Clifford of the Wellington High Court ruled that Mr. Lowe's behavior did not meet the standard of "offensive." According to reports in Der Spiegel (German), the ruling determined that one person finding a behavior offensive is not sufficient to support a conviction for offensive behavior.
Now when Lowe takes to his bike, he applies his chafe cream liberally, and packs one additional item under the saddle: a copy of the verdict. But does his case clear the path for nudists of all stripes? Not so fast: analyses of the Justice's ruling point out that it is specific to the behavior in question in this particular case. Walking nude on a public path may be evaluated differently than a bicyclist on a country road.
So what about world naked bike day activities? Nude activism in organized demonstrations is judged by a different standard: if people are aware of a planned activity to which they might take offense, they have the right to stay away. Did it help Lowe's case? The Justice chuckled as he viewed photos of other activities on world naked bike day, which happens to be precisely the day on which one woman took offense at a naked cyclist on a rural route.
If you are interested, Lowe tells his story to Close-Up for TV New Zealand.
By simply leaning, users can make Honda's answer to the Segway, the U3-X, travel in any direction / ReutersSource: Reuters
HONDA has unveiled an electric battery-powered personal transporter, a unicycle shaped like the number eight that riders steer by leaning in the direction they want to travel.
The "U3-X," which Honda will show at the Tokyo Motor Show next month, is the latest to join a growing number of futuristic transportation devices, such as the much bigger Segway.
But while the Segway has been used outdoors and in big buildings, the 65cm tall Honda machine is small enough and light enough to use at home.
Honda's machine has a one-wheeled, "8"-shaped body on which the rider sits and changes direction by leaning forward, backward or sideways.
It moves at a maximum speed of 6km/h, about the pace of brisk walk.
The self-balancing U3-X, weighing in at less than 10kg, is powered by a lithium-ion battery and runs for an hour per charge.
Honda Chief Executive Takanobu Ito said the machine could one day become the smallest means of transportation for human beings, though it is purely in the development stage and the automaker has no plans to start selling them now.
Mr Ito said the U3-X's small size would make it an ideal indoor transport device.
"If my legs get a little weak, I would like to have this around in my house. It's easy to move around," the 56-year-old CEO said.
Why use up all your energy on a bicycle, pedaling frenetically up steep hills, when you can get 'somebody' else to do the work for you...like a willing robot. No more complaining, whimpering slackards on the back of your tandem bicycle pretending to work but mostly whining and gazing at the scenery while you work up the sweat.
Meet Joules, robot biker and primo driver-passenger of one of the coolest bicycles you'll see this week. Joules is an inspiration to any weekend cyclist...at least one (like us) who's basically lazy and, on any given Sunday, would just assume have a robot as a cycling companion than a potentially nagging, underworking or overly-chatting human.
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All you art collectors out there. Here is a chance to get a Giclee copy of some of Ian M Sherwin work. Ian is planning on doing a whole series of Marblehead, Massachusetts paintings. His work is amazing.
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